


Track of the Storm II

by allysonandrews1982 (FonzFan82)



Series: Quality Time [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Rain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-23
Updated: 2015-09-07
Packaged: 2018-04-16 17:36:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 8,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4634193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FonzFan82/pseuds/allysonandrews1982
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to Track of the Storm. Introducing a new family: Margaret Webber and her two children, Amy and Justin see how much the weather is going on lately in their hometown of Billmore. Series taken from TV Comeback to continue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Margaret Webber looked out of the kitchen window. Rain began to come down. Since she and her children, Amy and Justin, lived out in Illionis it was hot enough but like Colorado and California, they could use a lot of moisture. Now the rain turned into hail, and after that, thunder and lightning came on the scene.

Amy was her oldest child. Amy and her brother, Justin, were very close to Margaret. No, Amy didn’t have a family of her own. Justin really wasn’t that interested in having his own family, but that was his choice. She heard Amy walk into the kitchen.

“Really at it, huh?”

Margaret turned around and found Amy entering the kitchen.

“You better believe it. The weather forecast said nothing about Billmore having any rain,” Margaret told her daughter.

Amy recently turned thirty – six a few months ago and still was beautiful for her age. Amy was the younger version of herself while growing up. Margaret felt proud of herself for succeeding as a parent to a son and a daughter.

“Where is your brother?” Margaret asked, looking at Amy.

“I don’t know, Mom. Wherever Justin is right now, he can take care of himself. He really didn’t bother telling me he had plans. He’s only thirty – two years old, and can make his own decisions. He and I aren’t children anymore,” Amy reminded her mother.

“You’re right, Amy. You and Justin will always be my children, but I will always be your mother and I worry about you both, even if it means you are adults and can look after yourselves.”

“Mom, you don’t have to tell me this. Justin and I both love you as much as you and Dad did. You were both wonderful parents and did well raising us.”

Amy was sensitive, kind, and caring.

Amy joined in with Margaret on the sensitive side. People always said Amy and Margaret looked alike, but what they said was true. Amy had light, long black hair with amber eyes. When she was younger, she had light black hair, so that was why both mother and daughter looked alike.

The hail, thunder and lightning continued. Both mother and daughter kept watching out of the window. They didn’t say much after Amy had just complimented her about. Margaret’s white hair was beautiful. She even added some things to her hair. She’d aged well for sixty – eight years old. She figured Amy would still look beautiful once she would be in her late sixties. Today Margaret’s shiny white hair was tied in a ponytail and it also had a couple of ribbons in it as well. It made her think with the ribbons and ponytail feel like she was a teenager all over again.

“You look beautiful, Mom. I mean it,” Amy told her.

“I know. I love hearing those words any daughter would say to her mother.”

Once she finished saying that, the power went out.

“Mom, do you want me to text message Justin and see what he’s doing?” Amy asked.

“That’s a very good idea, sweetheart. We sure could use his company,” Margaret answered.

“Okay. I’ll do that right away,” Amy told Margaret. 

She waited as Amy took her cell phone from her shirt pocket and typed in a few words. Less than five minutes later, Amy saw a message from Justin.

“Mom, Justin says he’s on his way home. He was at the gym, getting some exercise.”

Line Break

Justin usually enjoyed going to the gym. He didn’t stay long enough to say good – bye to his friends. Once he was about to go outside, he saw the gym was dark and the power went off. He couldn’t get the gym door open. He was stuck inside so he couldn’t go home to be with Margaret and Amy.

His phone still worked, which he was happy about. So he sent Amy a text message to tell her there was a power outage at the gym, so he had to stay there until the power went back on. A few minutes later, Amy replied saying, ‘All right. I just told Mom so she wouldn’t have to get too worried about your not returning home right away.’ He replied back: ‘Okay, Amy. I know you and Mom are safe. I love you both.’ ‘The minute the power is back, I’ll come back home. See you,’ Justin He knew Amy would see his message, but it was okay she didn’t respond back, which she decided not to. ‘Please don’t stay like this for a long time. I’d like to get home and be with Amy and Mom,’ he told himself.

Less than an hour the electricity came back on. Justin was happy to see everything came back to normal. Once the power was back, he was able to walk out of the building and get back to Margaret and Amy. The gym was about twenty to thirty minutes away from home.

Even Margaret and Amy were happy to see everything was back to normal.

“I hope Justin is on his way back, Mom. We know he was still alive because of all the text messages I was getting.”

“At least I have nothing to worry about. Those phones must be in good use when something like this happens.”

“Of course they are, Mom. That is why we have this type of technology.”

“Now I can see why it’s the twenty – first century. When I was growing up, we didn’t have iPhones or computers. We played outside and never played video games,” Margaret told Amy.

“You told Justin and I this several times. Your generation have several stories to share with the younger generation. Times have changed,” Amy reminded her mother.

“Of course they do,” Margaret agreed.

She watched as Amy walked into the kitchen to put the clock time to where it was before they lost power.

That’s when Amy and Margaret heard Justin’s car park in the driveway.

“Justin made it safely, Mom!” Amy said with a smile on her face.

The thunder and lightning calmed down, so the rain ended up to last a while longer. Justin locked his car and headed through the kitchen door.

“Mom and I were really worried and thought you wouldn’t last long enough until all of this crazy rain,” Amy told her younger brother.

“What made you two think that up? Amen to technology these days,” he said smiling.

“Got that right,” Amy agreed.

They ended up with a family hug, but Justin, Margaret and Amy don’t do this very often, so today was a good day to do just that.

“Was the gym packed today?” Margaret asked Justin.

“Not too bad,” Justin answered, “but they don’t get too busy until Tuesdays and Fridays. I like going there before a lot of people come and start their daily exercise.”

“Next time let me come along. I haven’t been there for a while,” Amy told him.

“So I noticed, Sis. Hope you both did okay here at the house until I came here, which I know you survived it as much as I did, but since I was gone for a while. I did miss you both. Time for more hug,” he said and they did just that.


	2. Chapter 2

Amy and Justin got to talking.

“Justin, spending time with Mom is the best, isn’t it?” 

“Of course, Sis. You don’t have to ask that question when you already know the answer,” Just said that while he stuck his tongue out at Amy.

They both used to do that while growing up, but since they were both adults now, they didn’t do that much anymore.

“Are you still looking for a job?” Justin asked his sister.

“I haven’t lately, but it’s still in progress on searching for the right job. How about you? How is your hunt coming along?” Amy asked Justin.

“Same as you. I guess with the technology we have today, people would rather have jobs online.”

“I agree, but I still prefer working that does not involve technology. Too bad we can’t turn the clock back to the time when social media was born,” Amy told him.

Neither brother and sister showed any interest in technology, but they do have e – mail accounts to keep in touch with friends.

“What do you want to do?” Justin asked while he and Amy were still in conversation.

“How about playing a game?” Amy suggested.

“Great idea, Sis. What do you have in mind?” Justin asked.

They loved playing games with each other, and since they are now adults, they don’t see each other often so they usually played whenever the two of them were living in Margaret’s house at the same time.

“What game sounds like fun right now?” Justin asked.

“Go Fish, solitaire, marbles. That’s all I can think of for now,” Amy answered.

“Have you thought about basketball, soccer, football or tennis?”

“No, I never thought about those,” Amy answered.

“Basketball sounds fun to me at the moment,” Justin replied.

“Since the sun is coming out, that sounds like a good idea to me,” Amy agreed.

“So basketball it is. Let me find a ball first,” Justin said.

“Okay. I’ll go tell Mom what we’ll be doing,” Amy said.

“Okay. I’ll meet you outside at the garage.”

“Okay. I know where to find you.”

When she finished saying that, Justin was already gone. So Amy went ahead and found Margaret still in the same spot when she walked downstairs.

“Mom?”

Margaret heard Amy and turned around.

“Yes, Amy?”

“Justin and I were talking. We’re going outside right now and play some basketball. You can call us when you have dinner on the table.”

“I will do that. I do remember when you and your brother used to play with each other all the time when you were kids. I’ll be looking out of the window and you two will let me watch,” Margaret said.

“Okay, Mom. I’ll tell Justin what you just told me. We wouldn’t mind you watching us. We’ll see ytou when the game is over,” Amy told her mother.

“All right, Amy. I might start off with dessert,” Margaret said to Amy.

“What are we going to have?” Amy asked.

“I was thinking of brownies. Been so long since I made them. It’s a good thing the sun is out so you and your brother could play a game outside.”

“I know. When Justin was coming home from the gym, I thought it sounded like a good day for a game.”

“And you’re right. You can come in when dessert is done so you could help me make dinner.”

“I love helping you baking,” Amy said.

“I know you do, sweetheart. You better go outside now.”

“I’ll go outside and see what Justin wants to do. If he doesn’t want to play with me anymore, I’ll come back in and help you,” Amy replied.

“All right, dear.”

When Amy joined Justin, he said, “You’re late, Sis. Since you’ve been talking with Mom, I’m going to play by myself.”

“If that’s what you want, I’ll go in and help Mom with dinner and dessert.”

Amy left Justin and came back to join Margaret in the kitchen.

“Justin didn’t want you to play with him anymore, did he?”

“No, he didn’t, Mom. Now I can help you with those brownies. They do sound like a good time to eat them,” Amy told Margaret.

“Thank you for volunteering to help out, dear. It’s fun when two people work together,” Margaret said.

“True that, Mom. We can call Justin when it’s dinnertime,” Amy said.

“Good idea. Why don’t you work on dinner and I will do dessert?” Margaret asked.

“Great idea, Mom. How about we do chicken salad tonight?”

“I never thought about that one, and yes, you came up with a good choice on dinner.”

“I thought so too, Mom. Want me to help you get the ingredients out?”

“Please do. It looks like Justin is having fun by himself. At least he still has the touch for basketball,” Margaret said as she looked out of the kitchen window.

“He sure does,” Amy agreed.

The two women didn’t say much while they worked on their meal and dessert. Amy finished before Margaret did, since brownies take longer than chicken salad.

Chicken salad was ready five minutes later, so Margaret helped Amy set the table.

“Thank you for helping, Amy. I really do appreciate that.”

“You’re welcome, Mom. I’ll go call Justin. Game over,” Amy said.

So Amy went to grab her brother.

“It’s time for supper.”

“Thanks, Sis. I’ll be there in a little bit.”

“You’re coming in right this minute.”

“Sis, I don’t like hearing that from you. I’ll be surprised what we’re having tonight.”

“I figured that one out. See you inside, Justin.”

It took Amy not very long to get back in to the house.

“Is Justin coming in?” Margaret asked as she watched Amy slam the door behind herself.

“He’s coming, Mom. I still can’t stop thinking about those brownies,” Amy said truthfully.

When Amy finished saying that, Justin slammed the front door. He thought ht was smelling chocolate.

“What is that smell? It sounds like chocolate to me.”

“That’s because it is,” Amy answered.

“So tell me. What is this chocolate dessert I’m smelling?” Justin asked while pouring himself a tall glass of milk.

As Justin sat down to join Margaret and Amy, he looked at tonight’s supper while he sat down.

“Chicken salad, huh? Nobody’s told me what the chocolate smell came home.”

“Brownies,” Margaret said.

“Yum! My favorite!” Justin said as the timer went off.

“It’s my favorite too,” Amy told Justin.

“I know,” Justin told her.

Margaret stood up again to take the brownies out of the stove and they would cool down for a while. Amy and Justin were already passing dinner around as Margaret took her seat at the kitchen table.

Nobody spoke during supper. Justin put the glass of milk down his throat and gave a loud burp.

“Excuse me,” he said.

At least he mean to say that politely. Neither his mother and sister said a word, but he did see Amy looking in his direction. They finally finished the chicken salad minutes later.

“We’ll eat the brownies in a few minutes,” Margaret told her children.

“Looking forward to it,” both brother and sister said at the same time.

Since the three of them finished eating, they all cleared the table together. Both Justin and Amy took a look at the delicious brownies.

“Can we have them now? We just finished eating,” Justin asked.

“All right. Help yourselves,” Margaret told her children.

While Amy and Justin finished enjoying their brownies a few minutes later, Justin saw the kitchen clock. The clock told him it was 8:15.

“I’m getting tired even if it means after eight o’clock. I’ll see you both in the morning,” Justin said.

“Sleep well,” Margaret told him as he ran up the stairs.

“Will do, Mom.”


	3. Chapter 3

Justin and Amy and Margaret woke up early the next morning to rain and thunder. None of tem expected any weather or heard if it was going to rain, but none of them really cared much. Amy was the first one in the kitchen that day. She just started making coffee, so her mother and Justin wouldn’t have to do it.

“Coffee should be ready shortly,” Amy told Justin and Margaret.

“I like the smell of coffee,” Justin said.

“So do I,” Amy agreed.

Margaret didn’t say anything. To her it was coffee by itself, so there was nothing special about its smell.

“Mom, you’re awfully quiet this morning,” Justin spoke up.

“Why don’t you go back to bed, Mom? You look like you’re still tired,” Amy replied.

“I guess I am a little bit tired. I well do just that. I’ll help myself to that coffee later,” Margaret said as Amy and Justin watched their mother leave.

“Mom should stay in bed if she’s so tired,” Justin spoke up.

“True, but she knows what she’s doing,” Amy told him.

“I know. She can take care of herself,” Justin agreed.

“She’s sixty – eight, Justin., so of course she knows what to do.”

Amy said that as she let her tongue stick out in his face.

“What was the tongue for?” Justin asked Amy once her mouth let her tongue back inside.

“Just to get back at you from the other day,” Amy answered.

“Next time it’s my turn,” Justin said.

“I’m almost forty while you’re thirty – two, and even today we’re sticking our tongues out. Besides, we’re adults and not seven years old,” Amy reminded Justin.

“True that, Sis. Even though we can still do that every once in awhile.”

He said that as he poured both of them their first cup of coffee. Amy let her younger brother do the pouring this time, so he did. For a few more minutes brother and sister said not a word.

“Amy, I’m going to head out to the gym. Since it’s raining right now, I’ll have to do my exericse indoors again. Tell Mom I’ll be home soon. I’ll call when I’m leaving,” Justin told Amy.

“Okay. I’ll give Mom your message so she wouldn’t have to worry too much, but I will see you when you come back.”

“All right, Sis. Be sure to give Mom a hug for me. I can give her a hug when I get back home,” Justin said.

“Okay. See you later,” Amy said as she watched her younger brother grab his car keys and slam the door behind him.

“What a cool guy Justin is,” Amy told herself.

What she just said was so true and she guessed he thinks the same about her.

About less than fifteen minutes after Justin left, Amy thought it wouldn’t hure to check in on Maraget and see if she was ready for her coffee. Before Amy could do that, she saw Margaret walk in.

“Feeling better, Mom? Or would the coffee do the job?” 

“Coffe is what I came for. I heard Justin leave. Did he tell you where he was going this time?” Maraget asked her daughter.

“Yes, he did tell me. He saw it was raining outside again, he was going to the gym. I don’t know what time he’ll be back. Like I told you earlier, we aren’t children anymore.”

Margaret knew that for a long time ever since Amy graduated high school, she now was able to look after herself.

“True, Amy. You and Justin may be adults, you are still my children, whenever you are adults or not.”

Margaret finished saying that sentence as she carefully grabbed her cup of coffee from her daughter’s hands. Margaret said nothing more and took a few sips of coffee.

“I love you, Mom,” Amy told her mother.

“I love you too, Amy.”

Amy beat Margaret to start hugging.


	4. Chapter 4

When Justin reached the gym, he decided to start off with lifting weights. He wasn’t the only one in the gym. He enver really talked very much with the other people who were in the same room, but he was happy to listen and talk to whoever wanted to visit with him, whether they were local or guest.

Some of these people in the same place with him sounded friendly. Even when Justin wasn’t talking with these people, he still listened to what they were saying to one another. He really didn’t have a choice there. Justin looked around the gym. None of these people looked familiar to carry a conversation with. He didn’t care one way or the other. He saw a college girl standing next to him.

She looked like she just started college, he thought to himself. She recently just had a haircut since he had been planning to do for a while now. He saw she was his age, but maybe about three years younger. She had light red eyes and had brown hair. She recently washed their hair, he guessed. She was hearing pearl earrings, a watch, polka dot shirt, capri pants, and last, but not least, Nike shoes.

He noticed she was looking in his direction.

“Hello,” she said to him in a friendly voice.

“Hello, Miss. I like your outfit,” he told her.

He told himself she was a pretty young woman.

“Are you a local?” she asked.

“Yes, I am. Why do you ask that?” he asked her.

“I don’t know. I usually like to take a guess. I’ve never visited this place,” she told him truthfully.

“I do that too, sometimes,” he told her.

“I know it is. What’s your name?” she asked.

“Justin Webber. And what is your name?”

“Heather Thomas.”

“It is nice to meet you,” he said as they both shook hands.

“It’s nice meeting you too, Justin. How far do you live from this gym?”

“Not too far. I do have an older sister, though,” Justin told her.

“That’s cool. I have two older brothers and one younger sister. We seem to get along fine.”

“Same with my sister and I. Where are you going to college?” he asked her.

“Atlanta.”

“That’s cool. I do community college.”

“I am the last one of my family to go to college. My sister hasn’t reached high school yet. She’ll be in seventh grade,” Heather told him.

Justin told himself that he liked this girl right away. He thought she thought the same about him.

“I hope it stopped raining out out there,” Justin said.

“I waas here a few days ago and it was pouring rain. When I got home.”

“Want me to check for you?” Heather asked.

“If you want to. I haven’t been here very long today, and I already feel like going home.”

Heather went to the window and tell Justin what the outdoors looked like at the moment.

“It looks like it’s going to stop any minite, so it looks okay for you to head on home.”

“All right. I had fun talking with you, Heather. It was nice meeting you.”

“Same here, Justin. Drive safely.”

“Thank you, Heather,” Justin told her and left the room.

He decided not to call Margaret and Amy to let them know he was on his way home. He drove home in silence as the vechile moved to take him where he wanted to go. Heather was right – he did get home safely.

Justin decided to put his car in the garage. That’s where Margaret kept her car when she didn’t make plans to run errands in town. Ammy was in the kitchen and saw Justin was home.

“Mom, Justin’s back!” Amy called to her mother.

“I heard, Amy,” was Margaret’s answer.

Margaret left the living room for a while so she could greet Justin. Margaret was watching the morning news. Justin slammed the front door behind himself.

“That didn’t take long,” Amy greeted him.

“What kind of greeting is that, Sis? No hello?” Justin asked when he finished hugging Margaret and then his sister.

“Hello, dear,” Margaret told him.

“See how Mom greeted me with a hello? You could’ve done that,” Justin said.

“Why are we talking about this?” Amy asked him.

“Besides, Bro, it doesn’t sound like a conversation to me,” she added.

Margaret left the conversation so she wouldn’t get involved if there was going to be an argument.

Amy continued on talking.

“Before you left, Justin, you promised you’d call so Mom and I would know when you would let us know you were coming back.”

“I’m not a child anymore, Sis. I didn’t bother since I thought it wasn’t necessary. I do have something to share with you and Mom.”

“About what happened at the gym?” Amy asked.

“Bingo, Sis. How did you figure that one out so fast?” he asked as he thought about Heather.

“I don’t know. Just a guess,” Amy told him.

Justin walked to the living room.

“Mom, are you interested in what happened this morning? Amy just guessed the right answer,” Justin told his mother.

“All right, Justin. I’ll be there in a minute,” Margaret answered.

That’s when Justin rejoined Amy in the kitchen. Both brother and sister watched as Margaret entered the kitchen for the third time that morning.

“You can tell us your story,” Margaret told him.

“Okay. Here’s the story. I was lifting weights when a girl walked over to where I was. I’d never seen her before, so we started a conversation,” Justin began.

“Where is this girl from?” Margaret asked.

“Amy told herself that she also was thinking the same thing.

“I don’t know where she’s from. We never got that far. She’s pretty friendly from the conversation we had,” he told Margaret and Amy.

“Did she say what her name was?” Amy asked.

“Heather. She never gave me her last name,” Justin answered.

“Go on. This is getting interesting,” Amy replied.

“I thought I should add more to it. I’m guessing Heather is about my age, but she looks to be three years younger than I am. I asked if she’s going to college here, and she said she was and the school is in Atlanta,” Justin. Said, remembering the conversation.

“Is that all to the story?” Amy asked.

“Yes, Sis,” Justin answered.

When he finished answering Amy’s question, he looked at Margaret.

“Hey, Mom, did the weather forecast say anything about rain?” he asked as he looked out the kitchen.

“I haven’t gotten around to the weather channel today,” Margaret answered.

“It’s starting to rain again,” Amy told their mother.

“We’ve been getting a lot of it lately. I’ll bring up the weather channel,” Margaret told them.

So the three of them headed to the living room. Amy reached for the remote control before Margaret could. The weatherman hadn’t reached their area in Illoinois yet, which was Billmore. 

“Good thing we’re in time to hear what he has to say about Billmore,” Justin said.

“True,” Amy agreed.

Finally the weatherman finished giving out the weather for Salt Lake. Next he began to talk about Billmore.

“The rest of the weather for Billmore we are on alert for lightning and thunder. We should be in the late fifties to early sixties while the rain is still going on,” the weatherman told Amy, Justin and Margaret and then went on to the weather in Chicago. That’s when Amy turned off the television.

“That answers everyone’s question. I am going to go to the store so we can figure what to do for dinner tonight,” Amy said.

“Be careful out there, dear. Don’t forget what he said. Just be alert for any power outages,” Margaret warned her.

“I will, Mom.”

That’s when Amy slammed the door behind herself.

“I hope your sister knows what to do,” Margaret told Justin.

“She does, Mom.”

When he said that, their conversation ended.


	5. Chapter 5

The next day, Justin, Margaret and Amy woke up to a good start and so far none of them saw any sight of rain. Justin was thinking once again he would like to try once more if today looked like a day with outdoor exercise.

“I think I’ll try not walk around the neighborhood if it starts to rain,” Justin told Amy and Margaret.

“Can I come along this time?” Amy asked.

“Sure, why not? You want to join us, Mom?” Justin asked, inviting Margaret to come along.

“Not this time, thank you. While you and Amy are gone, I’ll start breakfast. How does that sound?” 

“Sounds great, Mom. We’ll see you soon,” Amy told their mother.

“I’ll join both of you on the next walk,” Margaret said as she watched Justin and Amy put their coats on.

“Good idea, Mom. Amy and I should be back soon. We’ll pick up the newspaper,” Justin said while Amy help the front door open so they could leave together.

Once Amy slammed the front door behind themselves, she said, “Justin, do you think you will see that girl you told Mom and I about the other day?” as they walked off the driveway. For now there were no sign of neighbors and pets.

“I don’t know, Sis. Why do you ask?”

“Just curious, that’s all.”

“I’m hoping to see her again and maybe you and Mom can meet her,” Justin told his sister.

“That’s why I asked. Since you told us, Mom and I would like to meet her if she’s still here in town.”

“She never really told me how much longer she planned on staying in Billmore, and I never had that question in my head at that time. If she is, I’ll make this an opportunity for her to meet you and Mom.”

“Great idea. Did she say what her name was?” Amy asked.

“Heather Thomas,” Justin answered.

“Did she say how old she is?”

“No, but I only took a guess that she was about three years younger than me.”

“Three years isn’t too bad,” Amy said.

“I hope to see her before she leaves, but if I don’t see her then, there won’t be any meeting.”

“Happens,” Amy said.

Back at the house, Margaret got started on making breakfast for everybody. She thought today was a good day to make some pancakes. Been a while since they last had them. She was in the middle of making pancakes when she noticed there was some weather coming in. Good thing Amy and Justin had their coats with them, Margaret told herself.

She listened to the rain as hail began to come down, she saw lightning and thunder showed up. Margaret sighed, happy to see the power didn’t go out since her pancakes were still cooking. She hoped her children were on their way back from picking up the newspaper.

The rain, hail, thunder and lightning kept going as Margaret opened the fridge to see what idea she could pick out on the beggie side. She usually never liked it when her family from the past until today they would eat the pancakes with no fruites and veggies, but she liked to start the day off with something healthy.

She was grabbing the mixed veggies and was about to put the syrup on the table when she heard the front door slam. She looked out the kitchen and found Justin and Amy were back home safe. Margaret watched as Justin and Amy put their jackets on a couple of chairs on the dining room table.

“We bought the paper with us, Mom. It’s wet, but we see you’re busy with breakfast and don’t want to read a wet newspaper,” Amy told Margaret.

“I was worried because of the rain out there and it might hit you, but I am happy to see you both came back safely,” Margaret told them with a hug.

“Nothing to worry about, Mom. We made it back safely. Amy and I both knew for sure you would worry. To change the subject, what’s for breakfast? I’m getting hungry,” Justin said as everyone heard his stomach growl.

“Breakfast won’t take much longer. Today we’re having pancakes with mixed veggies,” Margaret answered.

“Yummy!” both Amy and Justin said at the same time.

Once breakfast was ready, all three of them sat down at the sametime. Amy and Justin were both enjoying the smell of pancakes, Margaret noticed. None of them said much of anything for a while. While looking out of the window, an old song popped up in her head, and the song’s title was “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head.”

A few minutes later, Justin was the first to speak.

“Mom, Amy and I were talking about the girl from the gym I told you about. Amy, tell Mom what you asked me about that girl,” he told his sister.

“Right. Mom, what I asked Justin was are you and I going to have an introduction, but from you told me, Bro, maybe you might get a chance at introduction, but who knows?”

“That’s true. I did think of it when I had that conversation I had with her, so I didn’t say anything right away,” Justin said.

After that, nobody said anything else.


	6. Chapter 6

Margaret, Justin and Amy saw how hard the hail, rain and thunder continued. 

“I think you’d better stay here today, Justin. It doesn’t look safe to drive your car to the gym. Why don’t you wait once the rain stops?” Margaret asked.

“Good idea, Mom. I have that feeling school was canceled because of this crazy weather that’s been happening lately.”

“I wouldn’t go back out there anymore today. I think I agree with Justin that the schools will be shut down because of what’s going on out there,” Amy told their mother.

“I never thought about the schools being shut down for a while, but for now it does look like that,” Margaret agreed.

“Has the weather been like this when you were growing up?” Amy asked.

When she and Justin were younger, Margaret told them what it was like in the old days.

“Not really. There was this one time when I was growing up as a teenager, the weather was worse than what we’ve been seeing lately.

“There was so much rain, lightning, and thunder that lots of homes were wet due to the rain. I couldn’t go to school for a couple of months, and that didn’t make my mother and father very happy about missing that much school, but there was no choice.”

Margaret looked back to those days. She didn’t really have a big family like most of her friends did. She had a younger brother, whose name happened to be Clarence. He didn’t live very long to live when the weather was horrible. Clarence had died about four months before the rain that came down due to missing two months’ worth of school. Margaret didn’t remember what made her brother pass away to share with Justin and Amy.

“Do you think this one will be like your missing two months of school?” Justin asked when Margaret finished telling her story.

“I have no idea. For the first two weeks, the electricity came on and off throughout the day, so we’ll have to see if this storm will be like that. If it does happen, this would be my second time I’ll be experiencing again.”


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning, Margaret, Amy and Justin were glad to see today wasn’t going to be a rainy day, but again the weather could change, so there was nothing for the three of them to be surprised about. Since Justin didn’t have his own family and is still in school, he didn’t have anyone except Amy and Margaret to survive this storm. Maybe if Justin ever had his own family one day, he could share this story with his future wife and children for sure.

Flashback:

Several years later, Justin had a wife whose name was Roxanne, and they both watched as the rain began to continue into a heavy storm. Justin now was in his mid – forties, and Roxanne had even trying to get pregnant and nothing worked. So they had their doctor check it out.

While Justin and Roxanne were still with the doctor, the rain began to rain even harder than it did before they visited the doctor.

“So, Doc, what’s the word?” Justin asked as all three of them heard the thunder, rain and hail went even faster than it did before he and Roxanne left the house.

“Roxanne, did you happen to have any family history about miscarriage?” the doctor asked.

Before answering, both Roxanne and Justin studied their doctor. Her name was Justine Harrell, and this was her very first year as a doctor since she graduated from medical school a couple of years before. Dr. Harrell was in her late thirties, so she was still young to have a job such as this.

Dr. Harrell had her white coat on. She also had some makeup on ro look presentable about it. Justine, Roxanne, and Justin talked about what they could do since he and Roxanne had trouble on brining a child into the world so the three of them decided and agreed he and Roxanne should try either adoption or foster children, but Justin and Roxanne thought they’d start out with adoption.

End Flashback

“Mom, I’ve been picturing what the future would look like if I ever had my own family and there was a storm like we have right now, but I never really expected it to be stormy,” Justin told Amy and Margaret, even though he was mostly talking to his mother.

“I understand,” Margaret told Jusin.

Amy was never interested in what her future would look like on a day such as this, so she didn’t say anything at all.

“I never really pictured what the future would look like for me,” Amy spoke up.

After Amy finished saying that, nobody else could think of anymore ideas to keep the conversation going.

“Mom, I’ve never thought about or picture would look if I had a family when something like this. That kind of thing I’m noy interested to share with my children and husband. It isn’t important,” Amy said.

“I do understand, Amy. Now I shared my story with you and Justin. Of course this is a weird story to share with other people.”

That’s when Margaret, Justin and Amy heard a clap of lightning. It was a good thing that the power stayed on, Justin told himself. 

“I wish we could get sunshine,” Justin said.

“Same with me,” Amy agreed.

“Why does it have to rain every time I go to the gym? That’s something I don’t seem to understand.”

At that moment, all three of them heard another clap of lightning. Sometimes when it rains like this, Amy and Justin would jump a little bit.

“Do you think that girl you mentioned could still be here in Billmore?” Margaret asked.

“I have no clue, Mom. I’ve been thinking about the same thing,” Justin said.

And then Justin added, “I still plan to try to go to the gym. Every time I want to do something outdoor excerising, rain starts to come. No way am I going to drive all the way to the gym and get stuck,” Justin told Margaret and Amy.

“At least we were able to go for a walk before it was going to rain,” Amy reminded him.

“True, Sis, but I want to ride my bike and job,” Justin complained.

“Why are we talking about the rain when it’s happening?” Amy asked.

Neither Justin or Margaret said a word.


	8. Chapter 8

In the past three days or so, they didn’t have any rain, so Justin and his family were happy the rain was taking a break.

“Finally I can spend some time outside,” Justin said.

“I agree with Justin,” Amy told Margaret.

Their mother didn’t reply but all Margaret did was nod her head.

“You two go on ahead. I’ll see you later,” Margaret told Justin and Amy.

“See you later, Mom.”

Both brother and sister walked out of the house.

“About time the rain stopped,” Justin said with a smile on his face.

“Of course I’ll have to agree with you for once.”

“I thought so, Sis. Maybe I’ll go out and pay a visit to the gym as well. Want to come to the gym with me?” Justin asked his older sister.

“Of course I’ll come along. I could use some more exercise. You like doing that, huh?”

“Sis, it helps you to stay healthy. You should know that by now,” Justin said, and then added, “why bother asking a question you already know the answer?”

When he finished saying that, Justin stuck his tongue out at Amy.

“Hey! What was that for?”

“For asking such a stupid question like that,” Justin answered.

“It’s going to be my turn next time,” Amy told him.

“It sure is, Sis. After this, I’m going to hang out at the gym. Want to tag along in case we see Heather?”

“Yes, I’ll come along. I haven’t been to the gym in a while.”

“So I noticed.”

“I really don’t like to lift weights like you do, Justin, but I’ll do it anyway.”

“Should we make Mom to come along we can do it as a family?”

“It’s worth a shot, and it will give Mom a chance to get out of the house with all this rain we’ve been getting recently,” Amy answered.

“We can ask her anyway,” Justin replied.

“I won’t mind hanging around and find the answer out for myself instead of asking you or Mom.”

“Whatever you want is fine with me,” was all Justin told her.

After that, Amy didn’t say a word.

Both Amy and Justin were silent on their way home. Amy opened the door when they both walked inside. 

Justin said to Amy, “Good thing Mom didn’t tag along.”

“What did you just say, Justin? So that means you don’t respect your old mother?” Margaret asked as they watched Margaret join them in the living room.

“Nothing improtant, Mom. Nothing you need to know about,” Justin answered.

“We were talking. Justin invited both of us to the gym with him.”

“That’s very sweet of you, Justin. I think I’ll pass,” Margaret answered.

“Mom, I invited you so you could get out of the house since the rain started,” Justin replied.

“Mom, Justin thought if that girl he told us about might be there and he could give us an introduction,” Amy added.

“When do you plan to leave?” Margaret asked her son.

“Soon.”

“All right. I’ll go,” Margaret said and headed upstrairs to put some makeup on and change into different clothes.

Margaret could hear Amy and Justin’s conversation about the walk they recently had. Margaret didn’t catch every word in the conversation, but she guessed that her children had a little argument. They are both adults now, so they didn’t need to get Margaret involved.

Margaret watched as Justin and Amy left the house once again. She figured Amy and Justin were on their way to the gym since they didn’t say where they were going, so that was what she thought. Since Amy and Justin were now adults, they didn’t have to tell when they would leave the house and do what they were going to do, but would tell Margaret where they would be coming home.

But as her children left, Justin told Margaret when he thought when he and Amy would be back.

“All right. You both go and have fun. I know you’re both adults now, but I want to say this anyway. If either one of you start an argument, it will be time to head home.”

“Now you’re starting to tell Amy and I to act like children,” Justin said and slammed the door behind them.

Both brother and sister decided to take Amy’s car. Her car was a 2004 Ford. Justin got into the passenger’s seat and Amy started the engine.

“What did Mom tell you?” Amy asked as Justin turned the radio on.

“Mom is starting to treat us as we were seven years old again. We’re in our thirties, for crying out loud! She said if either one of us starts an argument, we have to come back here and go from there.”

“You know how Mom feels about us,” Amy told her brother.

“She likes children, we are adults now. She still probably misses us when we were younger and want to turn back time before social media came along,” Justin agreed.

“I guess you are right, Justin.”

Justin and amy played rock ‘n’ roll on her radio. Neither of them listened to rock ‘n’ roll very much, so now was a good time to hear some.

It didn’t take Amy and Justin long enough to arrive at the gym’s parking lot. They both saw that the parking lot still had a few more open spaces left, so they took one of them. Amy really didn’t come to the gym often like Justin did, but people still remembered her, which was a very good thing, but Justin was well – known since he came here often.


	9. Chapter 9

Amy followed Justin to the room where he did lifting weights. Amy and Justin saw the room didn’t have many people quite yet, so Justin opened the door for both of them. Amy stepped through the door and thanked Justin once he slammed the door behind them.

Justin said hello to a few men and women, but Amy guessed they could be either local or guests, but she didn’t have a clue on what to think about, but taking a guess was her thing, but she thought she could be wrong as well.

Justin saw Heather Thomas just then. Amy picked up a dumbbell, pretending she was exercising. Justin could feel Amy’s eyes watching him and Heather.

“Hello, Heather. How have you been?” he asked.

“Doing well. How about you, Justin?”

“Same here. I bought my older sister along this time. Amy, come here,” Justin said.

So Amy joined Heather and Justin. Before he gave out introductions, he looked in Amy’s direction.

“Sis, remember when I told you about her?”

“Of course I do,” Amy answered.

“Amy Webber, this is Heather Thomas,” Justin said as the introductions were made.

Heather looked at Amy. Today Amy was wearing a long sleeve T – shirt with buttons, with the design of flowers in the spring. Amy had a ponytail. Amy liked those, Heather thought to herself.

“I’m sure Justin said a lot about me,” Heather said to Amy.

“You bet he did. Bro, isn’t there anything you want to ask Heather?”

“What do you mean?”

“Since Mom didn’t come along with us today, I thought you might want to invite Heather over for supper.”

“You read my mind, Amy.”

“I don’t think I can accept that kind of invitation, Justin. This is our second meeting, but I made up a rule for myself. Someone like you I just met I prefer to turn down your invitation. You are a stranger, so I have to say no,” Heather said.

“I understand, Heather. You aren’t the only girl who has said that to me, so I’m used to this by now,” he told her.

Amy could feel Justin starting to feel upset, but they could talk about this later when they were back home.

Justin hadn’t been on a date for a while now, but Amy could see he wanted to spend time with Heather once again before she left Billmore.

“It was nice meeting you, Amy. I’ve got to rush. My flight should be here in about less than seven hours.”

“Sorry that your stay in Billmore was short,” Justin told Heather.

“At least I had fun during my time here. I had fun meeting you and Amy.”

“It was nice meeting you as well, Heather. I hope you have a safe return home,” Amy told her.

“Thank you, Amy.”

Amy said nothing more. Before Justin could offer Heather a ride, she was already out of the gym.

“Is this why you dragged me here today so I could meet Heather?”

“Of course. I thought if she was still here in Billmore, Heather could have a chance to meet my family. It looked like she wasn’t interested at all,” Justin said with disappointment.

“Are we ready to head on home?”

“I guess so,” Justin answered.

Once again Justin opened the door for his older sister.

Margaret heard Amy’s car park in the driveway. She didn’t care how many minutes it took Amy and Justin to return home. Margaret watched Amy walk in with Justin. They walked through the kitchen and found Margaret standing by the kitchen sink.

“That didn’t take long,” Margaret greeted her children.

“I know, Mom. Too bad you didn’t come along,” Amy told their mother.

“Why was that?” Margaret asked.

“Justin dragged me all the way to the gym. He didn’t expect to see that Heather girl he told us about,” Amy began.

“Is that why you wanted us to tag along?” Margaret asked Justin.

“I didn’t expect to see Heather again, Mom. And no, I didn’t drag you and Amy along just so you could meet her,” Justin answered.

“That’s not how I saw it, Bro.”

“How do you see it then?”

“Just from what I said not too long ago in this conversation. At least you were getting close to invite a stranger in our house for supper,” Amy told her brother.

“You both are adults and can take care of yourselves, but I feel an argument coming, but when you two argue, you act like ten – year – olds.”

Margaret left the argument so they wouldn’t get her involved.

“Mom’s right, Bro. We are sounding a little like children. Let’s just drop it, okay?”

“Fine by me, Sis. It did look like I was going to have Heather over, but you and I know it’s wrong to invite somebody over that you don’t know, but I was only trying yo feel welcome,” Justin said.

“Let’s stop talking and arguing about this. Why don’t we both do something like watching TV?” Amy suggested.

“All right, Sis. I’ll turn the TV on.”

“Fine by me.”


	10. Chapter 10

Amy, Margaret and Justin smiled a few days later since the rain stopped.

“Think it stopped raining yet?” Justin asked.

“I sure hope so. Let me check the weather channel,” Margaret answered.

Both Justin and Amy followed Margaret so they could hear for themselves. Here’s what they heard:

“In Salt Lake City, we have rain showers for the upcoming week. Monday will be fifteen percent chance, Tuesday looks to forty percent, Wednesday is partly cloudy with twenty – five percent, Thursday is going to be partly sunny with ten percent chance, Friday will have no rain, and last, but not least, Saturday and Sunday will also be sunny,” the weather woman said.

“Geez, looks like half the country is getting it too,” Justin said as the weather woman moved on to Chicago. Billmore wasn’t too far away from Chicago, so Billmore had the same amount of rain and sunshine. Margaret put her finger on her mouth telling Justin not to say anything else until the weather woman finished going through for Billmore as well.

The weather woman showed what Billmore had coming up for the following week. Justin, Margaret and Amy saw that this following week showed no sign of rain.

“About time!” Justin said as he smiled.

Margaret turned off the television. Justin gave Amy and Margaret a high – five since the rain was going to stop.

For the rest of the week, not a sign showed clouds or lightning. Justin smiled for the rest of the week.

“That means for the following week I finally can get the chance to make up for last time for outdoor exercise.”

“You really enjoy that, don’t you?” Amy asked.

“Sure am, Sis. The only way to stay healthy,” Justin told her.

“Duh,” Amy replied.

Justin didn’t say anything after that. In Justin’s lifetime, he always seemed to enjoy the outdoor exercise. He’d probably be like that until he couldn’t do it at an old age, Amy told herself.

Again Amy could be wrong, but for now they were going to take it one day at a time. As what the weather channel had predicted, the rain no longer appeared, and, yes it did make her, Justin and Margaret happy once again.


End file.
